Gratitude as Daniel’s world cup dream becomes reality

Salt Rock’s bright young hockey star, Daniel Sibbald, has sent his thanks to North Coast locals for helping him get to India.
Daniel is currently in the Asian subcontinent with the South African U21 hockey side at the Junior Hockey World Cup.
The team started off their group stage by beating England 2-1 on Saturday, then lost to Malaysia 1-2 on Sunday, before finally going down 0-1 against New Zealand on Monday evening in another close match.
The 19 year-old’s sporting roots are firmly planted in a very sporty family and his provincial accolades date back to his days at Umhlali Preparatory school.
Daniel’s mother, Jocelyne, spoke to the Courier while he is in India.
“He began playing hockey at Umhlali from about 10 years old and started playing provincial hockey from u12,” she said.
Daniel then attended Glenwood Boys High and decided to focus on hockey although he was also a national tennis player. He went on to play SA schools U18 hockey and Jocelyne believes his love for teams sport made the choice an easy one.
“He just loves it, he is in his element. He has played for Riverside Hockey Club’s 1st team for the last three years and made the KZN men’s side last year.”
His hard work also earned him a call up to the SA men’s squad and he played for the A-side this year as well as playing for SA U21 earlier this year.
Jocelyne relies on Whatsapp to keep in touch with her son.
“Unfortunately we could not be there but we are very proud of him and we would love to be there,” she said.
“We have done fundraising and had a lot of local support and Daniel wanted to thank everyone for allowing him to reach his dream of representing South Africa in a World Cup,” she said.
It should not be long before Daniel gains his full SA colours having been a part of the SA men’s squad three times this year.
In the meantime, he is busy studying a Bcom degree through Varsity College and coaches hockey at Clifton, Danville Girls and Crawford La Lucia.